Accused ex-sergeant tells court being known by criminals ‘fed my ego’
Paul Street, 41, had been working at Cambridgeshire Constabulary
A police officer, who allegedly assaulted a suspect and sought a sex video from a female suspect’s phone, has told a court being known by criminals “fed my ego”.
Ex-police sergeant Paul Street, 41, is on trial at the Old Bailey for a string of offences allegedly committed while working at Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Giving evidence on Friday, Street said he had been “coasting” before he joined the force in Cambridgeshire, where he learned how to do stop-and-searches.
“I picked it up really quickly and in my own eyes I got really good at it,” Street told jurors.
“I found I had a natural talent, almost like a sixth sense of where a drug dealer was going to be.”
Street’s unit was getting results arresting suspects and he was beginning to be recognised by senior officers for his successes, the court heard.
Asked by barrister, Jennifer Dempster KC, if he became known in London, he said yes.
“On some people’s (criminal’s) phones there were pictures of me saying stay away from this guy,” Street said.
“A drill, rap record was created featuring my name. I know it’s not big time but it made me realise people knew about my work.”
“Did you like your name being known?” Ms Dempster said.
Street, who wore a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie in the witness box, replied: “I really liked it.
“To be honest with you, it fed my ego. It was nice going from being a nobody in policing to suddenly people knew who I was.”
The court heard Street featured on a BBC TV show Britain’s Teenage Drug Runners in 2017, and in 2019 was on Channel 4’s Famous and Fighting Crime documentary.
By 2021, he was leading a team based at Cambourne police station, mainly dealing with county lines drug supply and organised crime.
In November that year, anti-corruption officers seized his phones and uncovered two WhatsApp groups demonstrating a “toxic” work environment, prosecutors claim.
The court has heard he referred to suspected drug dealers as “idiots” in WhatsApp messages.
Asked why he used such language, Street said: “To be honest, I don’t like drug dealers.”
He added: “I can’t justify it. The language was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that.”
In the Autumn of 2020, Pc Josh Williams, 38, was tasked with examining the phone of a female suspect he told Street was “quite fit”, the court previously heard.
Street allegedly asked him if there were “any nudes”, and Williams replied there was a video of the woman committing a sexual act.
The following year, Street asked on WhatsApp if Williams still had the intimate private video, the court was previously told.
Back in August 2016, Street had told Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to leave a Cambridge pub after he had watched Luton Town play away against Cambridge United, the court heard.
Street said it did not impact him at the time, but in 2019 when Mr Yaxley-Lennon took Cambridgeshire Police to court claiming the force harassed him, he received online threats from Mr Yaxley-Lennon’s supporters which Street said went “viral” on social media.
“People were threatening to set fire to my car, my house,” Street told jurors.
He said he did not receive any support for his mental wellbeing amid the threats, which led to his wife and children moving to a relative’s home.
His marriage later broke down, the court heard.
In January 2020, Street allegedly assaulted Samuel Kayode, who had run away from him to evade arrest.
Street then allegedly took a “trophy” photograph of the injured suspect on the ground and sent it to the impact team WhatsApp group.
Referring to himself as “Daddy”, he allegedly wrote: “He had a disagreement with my baton and then my fist.”
Street told the court that he was referred to himself as “Daddy” after being overheard on phone calls to his children when they were staying with their mother.
“When my wife left with the children we had an agreement I would phone them every night,” he said.
“I always ended phone calls with ‘Daddy loves you’.
“It’s a working environment where people make jokes. It went on from there, people would call me daddy, I would call myself daddy.”
Street, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, has denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm, perverting the course of justice and two offences of misconduct in public office.
The trial continues on Monday.